WWDPXmas

I am in Cheltenham this week for the Annual Planning Conference of the Women’s World Day Of Prayer [having been on the National Committee since September] I confess that I am a little apprehensive – not altogether sure quite what is expected of me.

However I have been asked to take one Christmas card with me, addressed to ‘my friend on the Committee’. Apparently these are all put in a basket and then we each draw one out [presumably not the one we just put in!] This is, quite sensibly, a way of ensuring we all get a card, but we only have to give one each, rather than two dozen. It is a large committee. But I got the distinct impression that this is a Significant Event [mainly because at least 6 people made a point of telling me about the custom!] So clearly we are not meant to hand out a cheap Poundshop greeting! What to do?

I began by turning the WWDP logo into a cross stitch design

This logo represents women kneeling in prayer all round the globe – N,S, E, W, with the cross at the centre.

I mounted my stitching onto a tag made from Christmas paper, and put a hole and eyelet at the top. [I frayed the edge of the rectangle of Aida, and stuck it down using double sided tape]

Then I made four more pieces of stitching, with the themes Love, Joy, Peace and Hope and mounted them on tags too. I wrote appropriate Bible verses on the reverse.

Then I took a piece of card, which had a different Christmas print on each side. It measured 30cm x 15cm. I folded up the bottom 4cm, then did ‘concertina' folds, to get a card 7½ x 11cm, which had four pockets. I strengthened the pockets using very narrow strips of double sided tape down the edges and the folds.

I stuck the Logo tag on the front, and tucked the other tags inside.

I wrote a greeting on two pieces of paper to put on the back

And finally attached ribbons with brads so that the card can be tied neatly to slip in the envelope

I hope ‘my friend’ will like her card, and have a happy Christmas

[yes, I have checked, we do put our own name on it. If we signed it ‘from your friend on Committee’ it feels rather like a 10 year old sending an anonymous Valentine!]

This Week I Have Been Learning That…

Making A Fair Offer

I have just won two complimentary tickets to this event in Harrogate  [full details here]  I went to the CL fair in London about 15 years ago and absolutely loved it, and was really excited to win tickets to this one. I was hoping to go with a friend – but now it has proved impossible, for reasons I cannot explain on the blog.
So is there any blogfriend in the vicinity of Yorkshire who would be able to use these tickets? I cannot bear the thought of them going to waste! The first person to comment on this post and email me their address will get both tickets. Please note the tickets are valid for Thursday OR Friday OR Sunday, but NOT for Saturday.

update; tickets going to caslass -I am very pleased to have re-homed them

Great Guy #2

If your Sunday nights have become dull since Downton’s departure, then do watch Channel 4 at 8pm [or 4+1 at 9pm, or 4Od on your PC…] to catch up with the lovely Guy Martin and “How Britain Worked” [website here]It’s a great programme

Thus far he has restored a helter skelter, worked on a piston engine, been down a mine…with the sort of unbounded enthusiasm for history and restoration and engineering and ‘doing stuff’ that I just love. Hands-on, hard graft, no nonsense…brilliant!

Guy is also a great biker, has a girlfriend called Steph, and his Sound Engineer is a mate of ours. What’s not to enjoy?

A Great Guy

Happy Birthday to my wonderful brother Adrian – 50 today.

Hoping you have a fabulous day, whatever it is you’re doing

A Very Fine Cat Indeed*

Sewing Club has been incredibly busy lately, and we have all been working on different projects. Hayley, our Youth Worker, has finally completed her cat. She’s very proud of this creation – and so she should be![ this feline measures about 35cm paw-to-eartip]

* I’m sure you recognise the quote – it is from the plinth below the statue of Hodge, Dr Samuel Johnson’s cat, which is outside SJ’s house in Gough Square in London. Hodge is sitting on a copy of his master’s dictionary. There are oyster shells beside him because they were Hodge’s favourite food. SJ considered it would be degrading to send his servant to buy them as they were ‘poor people’s food’ so he purchased them himself!

I am not sure if Hayley’s cat has a name yet.

Cheers!

Latest research suggests that even a glass or two of wine during pregnancy can affect your child’s IQ. Clearly my daughters are so utterly brilliant because I was teetotal throughout [and there was me thinking it was the genes they’d inherited from their father]

Actually, I was teetotal throughout their whole childhood. Only since they became adults have I allowed myself the occasional medicinal drink [1 Tim 5;23]

Throwaway Comment

Tu Whit Tu Whoo!

Last Wednesday at Sewing Club, some of us began making owls from this magazine [last year’s Prima Christmas Crafts]

Over the next couple of days I finished three owls [which I then sold for 50p each at the coffee morning on Saturday] and have three more in progress.

They were easy to make from scraps of felt, and we added button eyes.

The original design was from Clare Young’s book [you can ‘look inside’ here on the Amazon website]

Here are my three finished and my three WIP owls

I think I shall keep one to hang on my own tree this year!

It’s Diwali Day!

As well as World Kindness Day, today is also Diwali Day, and many of my friends here in Leicester will be celebrating. There will be fireworks, dancing, feasting, and lots more besides. The City Council supports the celebrations and produces a glossy magazine every year. It is a free publication  [sponsored by a number of local companies] and has articles about food, festivities, fashion, firework safety and many other things.

Having mentioned the chickpea recipe last week, I was interested to discover that in this year’s magazine there is actually a recipe for a chickpea face mask. So here it is [I will let you know if it works] I don’t believe the picture in the mag is the actual mask [turmeric would surely make it a golden colour?]

India is famous for its centuries of knowledge about home remedies for all sorts of health and beauty complaints.

These secrets, passed down through the
ages, are some of the oldest methods of health and beauty care in the world.

The following beauty tip from Indian tradition uses natural ingredients so you can look good for less.

For a homemade face mask;  Mix two tablespoons of chick pea flour with ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder in one cup of plain yogurt. Leave on for 5-10 minutes and then rub off in a circular motion whilst rinsing skin. This mask is great for a general cleanse of the skin, as the turmeric acts as an antiseptic while the chick pea flour removes excess oils on your face.

I know some of my readers will struggle with the idea of even acknowledging this festival. But I believe it is important to respect the beliefs of others, even if I do not share them. How can I expect friends to engage in conversation about my faith, if I refuse to learn about theirs? And I believe that God is gracious, and He will answer the sincere prayer “Lead me from darkness into light”

World Kindness Day

No, I had never heard of it either.

It was introduced in 1998 by the World Kindness Movement. It is observed in many countries, including Canada, Japan, Australia, Nigeria and UAE.  In 2009, Singapore marked the day for the first time, as did Italy and India. In the UK it is fronted by Louise Burfitt Dons,  who co-founded Kindness Day UK."it is a day that encourages individuals to overlook boundaries, race and religion" In 2009, 45,000 flowers were given away in Singapore. If you need inspiration, there are 273 Kindness ideas here.

The Fruit of the Spirit is…kindness [Galatians chapter 5]

Taglines

I rarely do tags – but Fishcake has tagged me, so I thought that in celebration of 2500 posts I might as well do this one…

Eleven Things About Me

1. I have posted more than 2500 times on this blog
2. I had to give up running in 2012 due to knee problems
3. I learned to knit when I was 6
4. I learned to crochet when I was 56
5. I am 16½” shorter than my husband
6. I am an Ambridge Archers Addict
7. I cannot make decent Yorkshire Puddings
8. I would like to learn to ride a unicycle
9. I wish I could juggle
10. I have never bought a Lottery Ticket

Eleven Questions to answer

1-Do you have pets? What are their names?

We had a collie cross rescue dog, Charlie, who died in 2009

2-What superpower do you wish you had?

To clap my hands over the ironed laundry and watch it put itself away tidily in the drawers and wardrobes

3-What is your favourite food?

My daily bread – whatever variety

4-What is the story of your middle name?

Margaret – same as my Mum, and her Mum [and my daughter]

5-What was the last thing you got for free?

A sample of Aquafresh toothpaste

6-What is your current top project?

Cutting back on all spending to pay the important bills

7-Who is your favourite Bond?

I like Connery, Brosnan, and Craig – but none of the others

8-What is the main colour of the room you’re in?

‘String’ – and I just noticed black cobwebs!

9-What size shoe are you?

5 usually

10-If you could go anywhere in the world and do anything what would it be?

I would love to go to Scandinavia and see the Northern Lights

11-Name your favourite film and why?

“Witness” – a clever, thought provoking plot, good script, lovely scenes, and Harrison Ford [whilst he was still young and dishy!]

I am not going to tag anyone else, but if you feel like tackling these, here are eleven questions for you

1. What was your favourite sweet as a child?
2. Historical novel, romantic fiction, or detective story?
3. Where in the world is your heart ‘at home’?
4. Nigella, Delia, Jamie, or HFW [or another?]
5. What is your favourite season of the year? Why?
6. What was your first car?
7. Which aspect of housework do you find most difficult?
8. At this very minute, where are your house keys?
9. What is your favourite ‘Christmas’ food?
10. Who is your favourite cartoon character?
11. What colour is the chair you are sitting on right now?

National Elf And Friends

These are the little elves I made to sell at Saturday’s Coffee Morning. You need a small amount of 4ply/aran or DK yarn and a wine cork for each elf.

I use 3.75mm or 4mm needles [old UK sizes 8 or 9] depending on the yarn I am using. It is not an exact science!

Sweater: Cast on 15 sts.

1. *k1 p1* repeat to end
2. *p1 k1* repeat to end
3. k
4. p
5. k
6. cast off knitwise & sew up back seam

Hat; Cast on 15sts

1. *k1 p1* repeat to end
2. *p1 k1* repeat to end
3. k
4. p
5. *k2tog k3* repeat to end
6. p
7. *k2tog k2* repeat to end
8. p
9. *k2tog k1* repeat to end
10. p
11. *k2tog* repeat to end
12. p3tog
13. draw yarn through remaining stitch & sew up back seam.

Tassel; using contrast thread and large-eyed needle pull four strands of yarn through tip of hat to make a small stitch. Pull all eight ends of yarn through stitch and adjust. Trim ends evenly. Slide sweater onto bottom of cork, and hat onto top. Draw on eyes and nose with a fine point sharpie marker.

I use ½ a ‘sticky fixer’ foam pad to keep hat in place.

A blob of blutac helps keep them anchored – and you can add a cotton hanging loop if you want to suspend them from your tree

Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

Whilst in Norfolk over half term, we walked through the cemetery in Earlham Road, Norwich. There you can find the “Soldiers’ Monument” For many years Norwich was a garrison town, and at one point, there were many unmarked soldiers’ graves in the cemetery. People began to feel this was wrong, and public subscription paid for this memorial, unveiled in 1878. It was placed in the part of the cemetery where there were already many military graves. Now there are [sadly] many more graves surrounding the statue  from wars dating back nearly 200 years [the figure is “The Spirit Of The Army”]

As well as The Royal Norfolk Regiment, over the years many soldiers were housed at the Britannia Barracks. It can be claimed that most, if not all, of the cavalry regiments of the British Army, with the exception of the Household Cavalry, were at Norwich at some time or other. You can learn some amazing things reading the inscriptions on the gravestones.

I photographed these two because the name on the left one intrigued me [Valorus was from a military family, and he was actually born on HMS Valorus] The two on the right are from 1917 [rear] and 1918 [front] The older one is for a serviceman from the Royal Flying Corps- the newer for someone from the Royal Air Force – which was already in existence by the end of WW1.

One of the other inscriptions [my photo did not come out, sadly] says the man buried there was “One of the 600” – yes, a Crimean veteran, who survived The Charge of The Light Brigade” in 1854 – and came back to Norfolk to end his life in his county of birth

It is too easy to think that ‘War Memorials’ are just WW1 and WW2 – they were around before 1918 – and sadly, many more have been erected since 1945. We must never forget those who died in War. But when will we ever learn the way of peace?

When will we ever learn?

Just This Once

Tomorrow morning I shall pin two things on my coat. My poppy – and my Mum’s Bletchley Park Veteran's Medal. It is her medal –but presented posthumously to me on her behalf last year [full story here]

Just once I want to wear it as I stand at the War Memorial on Remembrance Day, for the 2 minutes silence. This year, Sunday will be the ‘eleventh of the eleventh’ and I want to acknowledge her memory, and the things she did to help expedite the end of WWII. I may never know the full story – but I do believe her work at BP made a significant difference.

I shall probably weep quite a lot – but that doesn’t really matter.

What matters is that I remember, with pride and with gratitude.

Santa’s Little Helpers…

What’s going on here then?

Not sure – Ang seems awfully busy…

She says she cannot do any housework, she is getting ready for the British Legion/Help For Heroes Event

I expect she will say some more later…

Give More Love

Rubies In The Rubble

When we were in London with Liz the other Monday, I picked up an advertising postcard in a shop. The name intrigued me…

You can go to the website [here] or read the article from the guardian [here]

Full marks to Jenny Dawson, a young woman of similar age to my own daughters who saw something useful she could do – and did it!

Her project helps  unemployed people to learn skills and get back into work and it helps reduce food waste.

Her mission is simple; "to highlight the excessive amount of perfectly good food that is wasted in the UK and create employment for people with limited opportunities…I want Rubies in the Rubble to be the Ben & Jerry’s of the chutney world. I’d love it to be replicated around the country. I want the idea to spread.”

Well done! She certainly deserves this award [from Ben & Jerry!]

Parcel Received In Excellent Condition!

A little while ago, my friend in the Fens posted about some free samples she had been sent to share with friends – and today my package arrived – some conditioner, a voucher and another of those wonderful Ladybird postcards. I’m ridiculously excited about them all

As I only ever buy myself the most basic hair conditioner, this is a real treat! So thank you so much for including me in your giveaway!

Farina, Farina, Farinata

This little car is an A40 Farina. We had one back in the 1960s[with the fab registration SHE 700] Why Austin chose the name, I do not know – my Dad told me farina was the Latin word for flour!

Move on 40 years or more – and in my kitchen cupboard there is flour

On the left is Italian ‘00’ grade flour – this is Bob’s – I bought it for him as a birthday present, knowing that someone else was giving him a pasta maker. On the right is a bag of gram [chickpea] flour from my favourite Asian Supermarket. The gram flour is useful for Indian recipes [chapatis, pakoras etc] I am told it also makes a brilliant face mask if mixed to a paste with natural yogurt [but I haven’t tried that yet] Then I was reading this book…

Ms Gingell says pulses and grains are the mainstay of her cooking, and she positively raves about a flatbread called farinata which is a speciality of Genoa. You can read how she discovered this food in the article here from the Independent back in 2007.

I knew Genoa gave us seafood dishes, pesto, and that wonderful sponge cake beloved of Mary Berry – but farinata was new to me.

However I was looking for some carbs to accompany leftover curry [we had it with rice on the first day and I wanted to do different] and the fact this used gram flour made it seem appropriate.

You start by making a batter, cooking it briefly in the frying pan, then put the pan into the oven to finish baking. It tasted good!

I made the mistake of wiping the glass door just before taking the picture, hence steamy streaks!

Original recipe in the Independent says “Serves 2” but same quantities in the cookbook says “Serves 6” We ate half with the curry – so I would say “Serves 4”

Farinata

225g chickpea flour
4tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (preferably Ligurian)
1tsp sea-salt
A little freshly ground black pepper
225ml sparkling mineral water
A few sprigs of rosemary (optional)

Place the chickpea flour in a bowl, pour over the olive oil and add the salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the chopped rosemary, if using. Next, whisk in the mineral water - mix it until the batter is smooth and leave it to sit for 20 minutes.

To cook, heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas6. Place a large non-stick pan over a medium heat and, when hot, add a tablespoon of olive oil and swirl to ensure that the base of the pan is well covered.

Gently ladle in the batter, turn the heat down slightly and cook for a minute or so, before removing the pan to the oven. Bake without turning for 10-15 minutes, or until the pancake is thoroughly cooked through and golden brown. Remove and serve while still warm. With whatever you choose to serve it with, a sprinkling of salt is essential.

I did put rosemary in my bread – Bob described it as ‘fragrant’ – on reflection it probably wasn’t the best herb to accompany a curry.

I did not use Ligurian Olive Oil, bottled by extra virgins basking in the Mediterranean sunshine. Mine was best Approved Food Bargain Basement. And I realised too late that what I thought was a bottle of sparkling water was just a bottle of tapwater I had put in the fridge to cool down! [I improvised by shaking it up with 1 tsp bicarb and it worked just as well]

Planning to spilt and toast the leftover slices for supper.

I have just discovered that Austin’s choice of the Farina name came from Pininfarina, the Italian family of automobile designers from Turin who were responsible for the styling. But in Sweden it was called the ‘Futura’-  because farina there is a sort of brown sugar. Well, I always thought SHE 700 was a sweet little car!